"Is there something you guys would like to tell us?" Mom speaks up, sounding a little amused as she raises a challenging eyebrow.

"Uh—" I start but immediately falter as I look at Blake for help.

"Did you just kiss?" Caiden finally breaks the silence, and I turn to look at my brother who's just staring at us with wide-eyes.

"About that." Blake clears his throat, moving a little away from me to make space which only earns him a glare from me. "It isn't like that."

"So, it's a new thing to kiss and greet?" Dad scowls at him, his focus only on Blake who doesn't respond.

"What did we miss here?" Connor looks at me for an explanation, like I would deny something but I take a deep breath.

I glance at Blake who gives me an uncertain expression, like he isn't sure how to fix this. It doesn't need fixing. He's always been ready to take that step, but I've been too afraid. Maybe this is how it was supposed to go down.

"Okay." I inhale a breath, nodding at Blake before turning to our families. "We're dating."

"I'm sorry, what?" Caiden yelps, standing up.

"Calm down, man!" Blake glares at him, and rightfully so. Why the hell is my brother so freaked out about this?

"No, you're dating my sister, I'm not calming down." Caiden scowls at us.

"I'm with him on this. Since when has this been going on?" Dad continues to look at Blake who just looks nervous under his stare now.

"Okay, you're both being ridiculous." Mom rolls her eyes.

"Have to disagree with you there, Dee." Connor shakes his head at us, but mostly at Blake who's jaw twitches almost instantly at that reaction.

I reach out to take his hand in mine, ignoring the deathly glare I receive from my father as I look at everyone. "Since when are three of you so concerned with who we date?"

"Since it involves the two of you." Connor answers.

"Yes. Don't you realise his parents are your godparents?" Caiden retorts and I try to hold back my laughter at that reasoning.

"And when was the last time you visited church?" I arch an eyebrow at him.

"That's irrelevant." He shoots back.

"So is this entire conversation." Blake snaps at him, finally speaking up as he pulls my body closer to his. "This isn't how we wanted you guys to find out, but it is what it is."

I look at him, resisting the urge to kiss him again. But then I look at our families. Odion and Ohana both just look like they don't care about it, Ella looks shocked, Connor, Dad and Caiden are scowling and Mom's glaring at Dad.

"How serious is this?" Ella asks, finally speaking up and her voice is awfully calm.

"Mom." Blake starts, his hold on my hand tightening. "It's as serious as it gets."

"How long?" She asks me.

"Hamptons." That's all I say.

"Technically, your birthday." Blake corrects me and I bite back a smile.

"It has been months?" Dad looks between us. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Are you hearing yourself?" Mom laughs, shaking her head in disappointment. "Looking at how all of you just reacted, that's why they didn't tell."

Dad narrows his eyes at her but it shuts him up. Connor, on the other hand, looks a little mad. "What if the two of you break up, are we supposed to pick sides? Because that'll ruin everything."

"Why are you even assuming we'll break up?" Blake snaps at him, sounding pissed. "Didn't you just hear me? It's serious. We love each other."

"Love, seriously?" Caiden throws his hands in the air. "This is ridiculous."

"Sit your ass down!" Mom snaps at him. "You're no one to question anyone, and why the hell are you even flipping out so much?"

"Because he's supposed to my friend!" He points an accusatory finger at Blake. "He's not supposed to date my sister, now he'll just be her boyfriend."

Blake smiles at his words, "Cay, I'm still going to be your friend, man. And as a friend, you're supposed to have my back."

Caiden glares at us, both us before letting out a grunt. "But she's my sister."

"I'm still going to be your sister." I assure him. "He's still going to hang out more with you during the trips, I promise. Is that all you're mad about?"

He nods feebly, like he's embarrassed about his reaction. Blake sighs, looking at everyone. "It doesn't change anything, please stop making it a bigger deal than it's really supposed to be."

"He's right." Mom nods. "I think it's adorable that my best friend's kid is dating mine."

I grin at her. Best mom in the world for a reason. She always, always has my back. I'm sure she'll have questions for me later but right now, when everyone's against us, she'll always support me.

"Yeah, but it's Emily, and Blake..." Ella trails off, staring at us like she's waiting for us to tell her we're kidding.

"And we're good together." I speak up. "Just trust us. If things ever go wrong between us, which they won't, but we'll make sure never to let it affect what we have."

"I think it's cute." Ohana chimes in. "You both look adorable together."

"Yup." Odion grins, "I l-like Blake."

"Thanks, buddy!" Blake ruffles his hair, earning a scowl which makes me smile.

"Are we not going to address how Blake's still in college and she's working?" Connor looks at Ella and Dad.

I roll my eyes, letting out an internal groan at how they are just finding reasons to make a big deal out of it.

"Shit, I hadn't really thought of that." Dad gapes at us. "He's four years younger than you, Em!"

"And he's an adult, we're in a consensual relationship."

"But you're more mature than him. Why are you encouraging this?" Connor scowls at me.

"Oh my god." I let out a bitter laugh. "Are you serious? He's the most mature person I know at his age. I was getting shit-faced when I was twenty, and he has his life together. He has a stable job at campus, he has amazing grades and he's financially managing everything on his own. He's kind, smart, so damn generous and has a big ass heart with such an emotionally intelligent mind. What maturity are you talking about, Con?"

"Babe." Blake whispers in my ear, pulling me closer as he rubs his hand up and down my arm to calm me down. Connor just stares at me with silence.

"No, Blake." I shake my head at him, hating how upset I feel over this. "I'm not doing this to prove to everyone how you're good enough, because you are. But I'm not going to sit here and let this relationship be judged when it shouldn't be anyone's business but our own. And we both know how good we are, we don't need anyone's validation for that."

"Shh. I know." He whispers, kissing my forehead. "Let's just calm down, yeah?"

I nod, swallowing back my anger as I look at everyone, noticing how they are just staring at us in silence. Ella's lips are parted in surprise again, while all three of my siblings are smiling like they know a secret no one's in on. Connor and Dad look slightly guilty but Mom has slight tears in her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" I frown at her.

"Just seeing the two of you." She pads underneath her eyes. "I can't believe how grown up you two are, and how happy this makes me after years of watching you two exchange those stupid looks."

"Oh, Dee." Blake chuckles. "We're still kids for you."

"Yes, you always will be." She smiles at him.

"What stupid looks?" Connor asks her.

"Oh, c'mon. I can't be the only one who has noticed that. I pointed it out to Ella too." She looks at her friend who nods, staring at us.

"I just never thought more of it." She looks a little uncertain. "Are you both sure of this?"

"Well, it'd be weird to live together if we weren't." I shrug.

"What?" Both our fathers snap together.

"Do you want me to die tonight?" Blake gapes at me. "Take it slow!"

I wave it off. "I don't care. We got an apartment together, we've been moving stuff this entire past week."

"Shit. You're both serious." Connor looks between us. "Listen, just be careful, alright? We just don't want our kids to end up hurt, that's all what the concern is."

Blake frowns at him. "So, you're okay with this?"

"It's weird, but I'll make my peace with it." He shrugs.

"That easy?" Blake's frown just deepens.

"Told you he's understanding." I whisper to him and he shoots me a side glance, making me seal my lips.

"Mom, what about you?" He focuses on Ella who lets out another sigh.

"Have to agree with your Dad, kid," She tells him, "We just want you to be happy, both of you."

When her eyes flicker to me, I give her a small appreciative smile. I turn to my father who's still staring at Blake with a scowl on his face. This is just him being protective. I've never really introduced them to a partner before, so this is new, for both of us. But I'm glad it's Blake. I'm glad it's when I am in love and sure about the relationship more than anything.

"Stop it, Dad." I look at him and his eyes finally land on me as he lets out a long breath.

"Who else knew about this?" Mom asks.

"Brian and Steve obviously knew." Dad mumbles. "Right?"

I nod, "Granpa too."

"Wait, what?" Connor scowls. "How the hell did David know?"

"I visited her when she was in Larkspur." Blake informs him.

"Why?" Ella scowls. "She was barely there for couple of weeks."

"They were fighting." Mom pipes in, looking at Blake with a straight face. "If I ever find my little girl crying because of you again, it won't go well, got it?"

Blake immediately nods along her words but Ella scowls at her son, "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" I interrupt, ending the conversation. "He didn't do anything. Can we move on from this?"

"Please." Caiden groans, nodding.

"Gifts, please!" Ohana whines, Odion nodding along.

"Alright. Let's do gifts then." Dad stands up, clapping his hands together as everyone rushes around the tree to get their gifts.

Blake and I hold back a minute, letting others get it first. He looks at me uncertainly and a little tense so I rub his arm, concerned about that expression on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry I kissed you." He looks guilty. "You weren't ready for this, and I should've been more mindful of my actions rather than just going with instinct."

"Hey." I stop him, my hand going around his face as I graze my thumb on his cheeks. "Don't ever apologise for kissing me, ever. I leaned it about the same time too. I like that our first instinct is that. We shouldn't be sorry about it."

He lets out sigh, "You're right."

"Good." I smile. "They'll make their peace with it."

"It's not like they have a choice." He shrugs and I lean in to kiss him.

"Okay, we don't have to see that! Not under this roof!" Dad's voice booms from behind us and I part away from Blake with an amused smile.

"Chill, old man." I grin at him as I get up to get the gift bag and turn to Blake. "I'll get yours too."

He just smiles at me as I get both of our stuff back to the living room, sitting down on the rug with everyone else because he has also shifted to the floor.

"Let's all exchange, yeah?" Ella speaks up and we nod.

I pull out the gifts and start giving it to everyone as others start doing the same. There's so much chatter and buzz as everyone starts to unwrap their gifts. I look down in my lap as I look into the small pouch a gift card.

"Again?" I scowl at my parents. "This is second year in the row you've given me an apple gift card."

"What she said." Blake holds up his identical gift as he looks at my parents. "Not complaining though, I like it."

"We have run out of ideas now that you're both grown ups." Dad shrugs and I gape at him.

"Now we're grown ups?"

"Yada-yada. You both should use it wisely." Mom pipes in.

"I used the last one for Caiden's phone."

"Aww, that's sweet, Millie." He grins, holding up the sweatshirt I got him. "I also love this."

"Me too!" Odion pulls up the similar looking one.

"Wait, you got us all the same gift?" Dad holds up the identical sweatshirt. "And you're complaining about that?"

"It's super comfortable, just look at how warm it is from inside. Plus you all should wear it together, you know, like McCall fam!"

"So, how much did you save on this?" Mom pulls up her sweatshirt. "Pretty sure you got a huge discount."

"Yes, did you get yourself one?" Ohana asks, rubbing the soft material against her cheek.

"She actually wanted to get it for herself but then saw the discount so got it for all of you too." Blake fills them in and I glare at him. "What? It's funny."

"I feel hurt." Caiden dramatically sighs.

"Want me to never return your phone?" I smile at him sarcastically, earning a scowl in return.

I look at another bag and it has three pair of socks that obviously are from my siblings. They are super soft and seem warm, just as I like them. I blow them all kisses before moving to another bag and I gasp when I pull out the gift from it.

"You two!" I look at Ella and Connor. "Always the best gift. Always."

"Well, it's a tradition." Connor shrugs and I just stare at them gratefully.

They got me a super warm coat that I can easily wearing during this month. It's fluffy and so fucking soft, making me speak up. "I think I can also use this as a blanket and sleep right now."

"What did your boyfriend get you?" Caiden teases and I roll my eyes.

"Pretty sure we both got each other socks, like every year." I look at Blake and he nods.

"Any other gift would've gotten attention." He explains.

"Yes, and kissing in front of everyone was a great idea." Mom laughs, making my siblings snicker.

Blake just shakes his head at her with a small smile lingering on his face. I roll my eyes at everyone before looking at the pair of penguin socks Blake got me which makes me laugh. I got him pink ones with fur balls on the toe.

"Aw, this is amazing Em!" Ella looks up from the frame and at me.

I smile at her, shrugging a little because it isn't a big deal. "Found a bunch of photos, thought you'll like it."

"Love it." She hugs it to her chest.

It's a photo of her and Blake from our trip to Florida years back. He's sitting in her lap and kissing her cheek while she's smiling at the camera. Both of them look so cute, I saw it and knew I wanted to gift it to her.

I got Connor a hat since he has started this new obsession of collecting it. He loves the gift, just like I knew he would. Once we've all unwrapped our gifts and seen it, the chatter only increases. Mom gets up to set the dinner table so I silently follow her in the kitchen.

When it's just the two of us, she turns to me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want you to judge." I sigh, giving her an apologetic express. "I know you wouldn't have, but I was just afraid."

"Em, you're both sure about this, right?" She looks me in the eye. "Hon, I'll always back you two but just don't rush into anything."

"I'm not." I immediately assure her. "I love him, Mom. I really do."

"Oh, sweetheart, I know." She gives me a heart felt smile. "But he did screw up when last time you showed up here in tears."

"He's made up for it, he still is." I explain, glancing to the living room where he's making the twins laugh. "He's always been there for me, even when I didn't realise it."

"He's a good kid." She nods at me knowingly. "Just be careful, okay?"

I move to hug her because often I take it for granted how grateful I am for her. "Thanks, Mom. For always, always trusting me."

She laughs a little, kissing the side of my head. "Can't imagine a day I won't."

"There's something I have to tell you, but please don't be mad." I start, a little nervous about her reaction.

"What is it?"

"You know when Nate showed up at my apartment?" I ask her and she freezes a little at his name, carefully gesturing for me to go on. "Blake was there with me, they kind of started arguing when he asked him to leave."

"And?" Her voice is on the edge, her eyes wide.

"Nate punched him."

"What the fuck?" She whispers, shaking her head as she looks at the guy in the living room. "Why?"

"Nate lost his temper, that's all. I stopped Blake before he could retaliate but it just happened and I feel like you should know about it. He knows everything too, I told him and I'm sorry if I shouldn't have."

"No, Em." She shakes her head, giving my arm a little squeeze. "It's as much your story as it's mine, sweets. If you trust him..."

"I do." I immediately assure her.

"How did he not report about the punch? That's physical assault." She sounds a little worried.

"I asked him not to, not that he wanted to do it himself. He kinda let it slip. I don't know what I've done to deserve him," I tell her honestly, grateful for my luck.

"You're an amazing human, Emily. You deserve this."

We just exchange a smile before getting to work. Sometime during it, Blake joins to help us. Everyone sets up at the dinner table where Mom has particularly assigned everyone a seat, which is hilarious because I end up sitting between Caiden and Blake.

"Did you do this on purpose?" My brother narrows his eyes at Mom.

"Maybe." She smirks amusedly.

"Not funny." Caiden scowls dramatically.

Blake snickers by my side, "Kinda is."

"Can hear you, dick!" Caiden glares at him.

"Hey, language!" I swat at his shoulder, noticing that twins are actually involved in their own conversation with Ella.

After expressing our gratitude for the holiday, everyone just digs in the food. Mom served everyone a glass of champagne, she even got Caiden and the twins mocktails.

"So, where is this new apartment of yours?" Mom asks Blake, who looks a little surprised with the question because now everyone's attention is on him.

"Brooklyn heights, just a little away from her old place." He shrugs, and I can see it that he wants to conversation to go away from him to someone else.

"I still can't believe you two are dating." Ella shakes her head, looking a little disappointed.

My hand goes to Blake's as I give it a light squeeze. I know his parents and my father aren't completely on board with this, but they'll come around eventually. We both care about what they think, but it's only fair of us to give them some time.

"Or living together. That's bigger." Dad points out.

"Not again." Odion frowns at everyone. "T-they are adults, s-so are you-u. Act li-ike it."

Blake and I stare at him in awe as I want to move over to give him a hug but then that would disrupt everything so I stay put, passing him a grateful smile.

"Fine, old man." Connor huffs at him. "Let's all share our favourite Christmas memories."

"Oh, I know mine." I sit up straighter. "It was when we all went to Chicago at Pop's and Mimi's. You guys joined in last minute because your other plans got cancelled but then we all were about to exchange gifts when it started to snow."

"Yess!" Blake chimes in, his eyes wide. "That's when I made the first snowman."

"We made a snow-woman!" I elbow him slightly.

"I remember Emily tried to cut her own hair to form a wig for that!" Dad laughs out loud.

"I was nine! Cut me some slack." I scowl at him.

"Was hella funny though. Blake was trying to convince her not to do it but she was like no, we need to have a perfect snow-woman with blonde hair." Connor's laughing so much that he slams his hand on the table.

"At some point didn't he offer to sacrifice his own hair?" Mom chimes in.

"She would've bawled her eyes out after doing that, we all know how she was about haircuts back then." Blake shakes his head in disbelief and I just grin at him in awe. The guy was looking out for me when he was four.

"That's true. But to sacrifice your own hair?" Ella teases him.

He shifts a little uncomfortably in his seat and I move my hand over to his. Ohana wiggles her eyebrows from across the table and I narrow my eyes at her, only earning a giggle in return.

"It's Ohana's turn to share!" I shoot up and she claps her hands excitedly.

Everyone goes around telling their favourite Christmas memory and it's mostly connected to all of us. A wave of nostalgia hits me about how fast we're all growing up but it also makes me cherish of how many great memories we have together.

"What are we doing for New Year's?" Caiden asks, changing the topic when we're all almost done with the dinner.

"How come you're not pestering us to let you go to a party?" Dad asks him suspiciously.

"Wow, Dad. Consider me hurt. I always spend the holidays with you." He pouts mockingly.

"He really does." Mom wonders out aloud. "Sweet kid."

"Does that mean I can bring a date?"

"Wait, what?" Ohana squeals at him. "You have a date?"

"Yea, what she asked." Connor looks at him amusedly.

"Hey, it's only fair. You are all a couple, twins aren't old enough and Millie has Blake. I deserve someone too." He shrugs but then look at Mom. "But if you're going to scare her away, then no."

"Good for you, buddy! It was around the same time Blake brought around his first girlfriend." Ella smiles at him and I choke on the water I was sipping.

Blake's hand immediately goes to my back as he starts rubbing it to calm me down and offers me a glass of water. I don't miss the glare he sent to his mother who just shrugs innocently at him.

"Ah, Nicole, was it?" Connor decides to continue the topic.

"Seriously?" Blake gives him a challenging expression.

"It's fine." I whisper to him, aware that they're just egging him on.

Connor shrugs casually, a teasing smirk on his face. "What? Em's met her. She was a nice girl."

"A very nice girl, indeed." I scoff a little, earning a confused look from my mother who probably is thinking about the conversation we had couple of months back.

I mentioned that he kissed his ex girlfriend in front of me, so she has to know it was Nicole somehow. She looks at Blake disappointedly and I rub my temples. How does every conversation keeps coming back to us?

"Wasn't she in the city recently?" Ella asks, looking genuinely curious but her words make me frown as I turn to Blake.

"You told her?"

"What? No, no. I didn't." He scowls, looking at Ella. "How do you know?"

"She had the house number, gave a call asking for your address. I didn't think much about it." She looks genuinely confused and I let out a frustrated huff.

"Mom, you aren't supposed to do that." Blake shakes his head at her. "That's how she showed up that night."

"Okay, I'm a little out of loop. What's going on?" Caiden looks between us all. "I mean, if we're going to listen to the conversation, we should know everything."

"I don't think it's anyone's concern apart from those two." Mom finally speaks up and I give her a grateful look.

"Thanks, Dee." Blake smiles at her but then I see the way he looks disappointed.

He doesn't speak anything for the rest of the dinner but he doesn't go easy on the wine either. I want to know what he's thinking but when he's on his third glass of wine, I stop drinking whatever few sips I had. One of us has to drive, and he has chaperoned me around enough.

I understand why he's upset. Ella gave Nicole the address without consulting him and if she had just asked him, a lot of the conflicts that happened between us could've been avoided. But Blake is better than getting mad at his mother during a holiday for something she wasn't aware about. So, he's just going to sulk alone.

My boyfriend and siblings go to the living room after the dessert while the men offer to do the dishes. Mom and Ella lounge around the dining room to have some more wine while I struggle to choose who to hang out with. I want to talk to Ella, to make sure we're okay and she isn't mad at me for dating her son but it's not the conversation for today.

I sigh, moving to sit in the living room by Caiden's side while Blake is busy setting up the new legos twins got from the folks. He looks a little woozy which makes me laugh a little. My brother turns to me, a small smile on his face.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks, his eyes set on the view in front of him as well.

"I didn't want you to judge." I sigh, being honest with him. "You freaked out when you assumed something could happen with Nick. And this is Blake."

"Yeah, exactly. This is Blake." He whispers, sounding a little surprised even now. "I never would've seen this coming."

"Tell me about it." I chuckle, tugging my hair behind my ear. "Thank you."

"For what?" He frowns at me.

"You know some months back you told me that I tend to go for choices that hurt me," I start, pausing a little as he nods along. "That stayed with me. It helped me break it off with that stupid woman, and it made me realise that with him too much was at risk, but the hurt wasn't predictable. With him, nothing is."

My eyes are fixed on Blake as he tries to piece the lego together with the twins. He loves my family the same way I do, and it warms my heart so much. His eyes flicker to me and a smile takes over his features. It's almost contagious because I do the same, sighing with content. He gets distracted again and I turn to look at my brother.

Caiden stares at me with for a few seconds before a small smile plays on his face, "God, that's weird."

"What is?"

"That's how Mom and Dad look at each other." He lets out a laugh of disbelief. "He better not break your heart."

"I don't think he will," I tell him with certainty. "It would break his too."

After Caiden and I talk some more, I move over to Blake, tapping on his shoulder as I stand by the couch he's sitting on. He looks up a little, his eyes a little wide and I smile at the sight. He's definitely drunk.

"Ready to go home?" I ask.

"Home." He grins, nodding as he stands up. "Can't believe my luck."

"I can't either." I kiss his cheek. "C'mon."

He turns to the kids and opens his arms. "Merry Christmas, munchkins. I'll see you both soon."

"Yes! New Year's!" Odion jumps to hug him, Ohana following behind before they move to me.

I give them tight hugs before doing the same with Caiden. He shares a nod and a fist bump with Blake before we move to our parents who are laughing in the dining area. Blake takes my hand in his as we approach them.

"We're gonna head out." I announce, catching everyone's attention.

"So soon?" Mom asks.

"I think we want to spend an hour of the Christmas day at the new place." Blake tells her and she nods in understanding, getting up to hug us.

Connor and Ella make it less awkward for us both as they both also give us a quick hug before we leave. Blake carries our gift bags to the car and keeps it in the backseat while I start up the engine.

"So?" I turn to him when I start driving and he's still staring out of the window. "How much did you drink?"

"I lost count after the comments didn't stop." He shrugs like it's the obvious reason.

"We need to give them time. I freaked out too, you know? And they are our parents." I give his hand a little squeeze and he nods mindlessly.

After ten minutes he closes his eyes and I know he doesn't want to talk about it. Either he's taking a nap or avoiding the conversation — I'm not complaining anyhow. The good thing about the new apartment is the basement parking space it has. It's one of the major reasons why I immediately agreed to this place.

When I park the car, I shake Blake's shoulder and he opens his eyes. He doesn't say a word even as we make our way up the elevator, but he doesn't let go of my hand either. I pull out the keys to unlock the door and once we're inside, a groan leaves both of us when we notice the boxes.

"Tomorrow?" He looks at me and I nod. "Are you going to take a shower?"

"Nooo." I whine. "It's so cold and I took one in afternoon."

"Do you want to watch some tv?" He asks, stepping out of his shoes and removing his jacket.

"I think you should sleep if you don't want a hangover tomorrow." I laugh, going to one of the boxes that I know has my night clothes.

Blake pulls out a pair of boxers and a t-shirt from one of his boxes before moving to the bedroom. I go behind him and notice how he looks a little confused when he sees a wrapped gift on the bed.

"What's that?"

"Open it." I urge him towards it and he gives me a baffled look before going to sit on the edge of the bed and pulling it to him.

He starts unwrapping it and I hold my breath. The moment he removes the wrapper from the front, his wide eyes meet mine. "No!"

"Yes!" I bite on my lower lip. "Merry Christmas."

"Baby! Fuck, you didn't have to." He continues to unwrap it. "Oh my god. You actually got me an xbox."

"Yup." I smile, aware that he likes it.

He loves, absolutely loves gaming. He had the entire set in high school but then he got busy with football and when he was home, he was on the xbox. So, Connor made him pick during senior year. Either football or the gaming. He obviously chose the former but I know he misses it. He never misses a chance to play with Caiden.

"How much did you spend? Emma, this is too much." He shakes his head and I make my way over to him.

"Don't worry about it, please." I brush aside his hair. "You should set it up after we're done settling in."

"What have I done to deserve you?" He breathes, keeping it aside and his hands coming around my waist as he pulls me closer.

"I could always ask the same thing."

"Fuck." He whispers, his eyes studying my face before he kisses me.

I can taste the red wine on his lips but I don't complain as I kiss him back. After the hard night we've had, we deserve to get lost in each other. The way I fit perfectly against his body is our reminder of how nothing else matters. It's just us, it's our relationship that does.